3 Tips for Selecting Interior Colors

By Debra Worthington, Newburyport.Com Correspondent
"Southern comfort meets New England proper"
Debra Worthington, a well-seasoned professional Interior Designer, merges her southern upbringing and values with her New England traditions to assess your lifestyle. For your home or commercial space we design spaces with timeless beauty.
Worthington Interior Design is located in Newburyport. Whether you're a traditionalist or modernist; we work in all genres- " antiques can always be infused with a bit of of playful urban-mix."
Worthington Interior Design

3 tips for selecting interior colors for your home to steer clear of mistakes or repainting and blowing your budget. First it’s good to take inventory of what furnitureyou have and are keeping. This includes the color of the wood, materials or fabrics you will be using in each room. Are the materials a cool palate or a warm palate? For instance if you have predominately cool colors you want to select a complimenting neutral color to enhance the room. If all your furnishings are neutral and bland you may want to liven them up with a crisp white so you won’t be overwhelmed with color. But if you like color our next recommendation is to …

Pay attention to your existing type of lighting as well as how the light comes in your windows or if you have no windows in those rooms.

Regarding the lighting– do you have a solo center fixture, lamps, sconces or recessed fixtures? All of these types of lighting affect the colors you choose. If you have lots of window light know that a strong color will lighten on the wall at the height of the day and as the day is done it will become more intense. So if you are trying to achieve a cozy room a dark tone color may work for your space.

And lastly study the floor treatments and ceilings in each room or space. Wood floors light or dark can have an effect on your color palate. Stone or tile also will also affect the interior colors you choose because natural or man-made tile happen to react to colors because of their inconsistency especially in a natural product and the man-made product is often trying to emulate the natural product. Both can be difficult to match colors against especially if you want a neutral color palate.

What are the current ceilings treatment(s) you are working with to choose a color palate for the walls? Do you have ceiling a swirled finish, a drywall finish, beams across the ceiling to name a few or do you have an architectural feature like a coffer or cathedral ceiling? When working with existing conditions, providing you are not embarking on a full renovation, still need to play a role when you select new colors for your home.

So live with samples of your selections so you can see them during different times of the day. And if you want to achieve a simpatico relationship from room to room when it comes to color consider these 3 tips for selecting interior colors for your home.

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